January 10, 2019 / Lifestyle / Comments Off on How to prevent the most common football injuries

Many football fans see it as a fun, fast and exciting sport. However, it can also be a dangerous sport out there on the pitch. You only have to look at how many injuries professional players pick up.

So, how can you prevent certain injuries? Here, we’ve outlined the most prevalent injuries that can see you out of action for several games and detailed how you can work to reduce the risk for an all-round safer and better on-pitch performance…

Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)

One of the four ligaments that helps maintain stability in your knee is your ACL. However, it’s often damaged by the twisting and turning of the leg, which means it’s a common injury for football players. If you hurt your ACL, it’ll be painful and you’ll likely see swelling around the area. But before then, you may hear and feel it pop or snap…

In order to stop yourself injuring your ACL, focus on increasing the strength in your muscles surrounding you knee, including the hamstrings and quadriceps. According to HSS, Hospital for Special Surgery, you should do plenty of leg stretches like squats and walking lunges. Having good balance — or proprioception — is vital if you want to avoid injuring your ACL too, so practice standing on one leg (30 seconds on each) regularly to boost your stability. These exercises also help prevent injuries to your menisci, which are cartilages that protect the knee joint.

Pulled or torn hamstring

You can find your hamstring at the back of your thigh, running from your hip to your knee. As your legs are crucial parts of a football match, sometimes your hamstring muscles can overstretch, resulting in pain at the back of the leg, as well as potentially bruising and swelling. If you tear your hamstring, you could be out of action for a while, however, if you simply pull your hamstring, you should be fine to continue.

If you tear you hamstring you’ll be in a lot of pain and notice swelling and bruising in the affected area. Reportedly, people with existing back issues are more susceptible to strained hamstrings, so to avoid this injury, loosen your back with exercises such as lumbar rotation stretches (lying on the floor and rolling your knees from side to side). Basic glute stretches will ease muscles around your hips, while yoga will help you stay flexible, which will lower the risk of hamstring strain. Squats, lunges and hamstring kicks are also great preventative exercises, as they work to strengthen the hamstring muscles.

The Nordic ham curl is a great exercise to reduce the risk of hamstring injuries. Here’s how to do it:

Kneel on the floor.

Hook your feet under something sturdy and heavy that can take your weight or ask a partner to hold your feet to act as an anchor.

A sprain of the ankle means that you’ve damaged the soft tissue in the ligaments in this part of your foot. According to the CSP (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy), approximately 70-85% of these injuries are ‘inversion’ sprains, which means the ankle has been turned inwards — common when tackling and dribbling the ball.

To reduce the risk of a sprained ankle, complete these exercises at least three times a week:

Ankle circles (both clockwise and anti-clockwise).

Calf raises.

Shin raises (lifting your toes, rather than your heels, off the ground).

Strained groin

You run the risk of injuring your groin if you stretch to reach a ball. If you strain your groin, you’ve basically over-extended your abductor muscles, found in your inner thigh. A slight strain will often cause some pain, however, serious groin strain injuries can impede on your ability to walk and run, which is a serious flaw for a football player.

You stand a better chance of avoiding a groin strain if you complete a decent warm-up. Make sure you stretch your inner and outer thigh muscles daily and see if you can also get regular sports therapy or massage treatments to keep these muscles flexible. A strong core enhances pelvic stability, which will also reduce the chance of groin strains, so do plenty of planks and crunches as part of your basic workout routine. Resistance bands are also very handy for strengthening your inner thigh muscles and preventing groin strain.

How to prepare before a match

You heighten the risk of injury throughout the game when you suddenly use your muscles, such as to dodge an unexpected tackling player. According to a scientific study, taking part in a structured warm-up is effective at stopping players from suffering common football injuries and can reportedly even lower these by approximately 33%.

Short cardiovascular exercises that get your blood flowing are the best way to decrease the danger of a football injury. Here’s a top warm-up session to help you prepare your tendons, ligaments and muscles for a good performance:

10 minutes: mimicking football movements without a ball including high kicks, squats, jumps, and side-foot passes.

10 minutes: practicing shooting, heading, passing, and dribbling as a team with a football.

You must follow a decent diet if you’re a footballer as this can help ensure your fitness levels are high. Eat plenty of protein and carbohydrates — including eggs, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, turkey and salmon — to build muscle and deliver energy. Also, lower your alcohol intake — it dehydrates you and leaves your muscles more susceptible to cramping and injury.

It’s also recommended to incorporate nutritional supplements to help you limit the risk of injury, aid recovery and improve performance. For example, vitamin D can help strengthen your bones and muscles, according to some scientific studies, while omega 3 may protect your tissues from damage and ubiquinol can lower your blood pressure levels.

Utilise these exercises and tips into your football regime and you should ensure that you aren’t ruled out on any key practices and crucial games this season.

You may also like

Comments are closed.

Welcome to Men's Style

I'm Steve, a 30-something chartered accountant and online entrepreneur. I like the finer things in life, however shallow that may sound, and in the business world image means a lot, which is why I take pride in looking sharp and well-groomed on a daily basis. Welcome to my blog.